Crepax: Dracula, Frankenstein, And Other Horror Stories (Complete Crepax) Hardcover – 29 Mar. 2016

Now, this is one big, heavy book! Definitely one for the coffee table! 34cm in length, that's 5cm bigger than A4, and heavy enough to give you arm ache. If you whacked someone on the head with it...well, let's just say they'd get a good night's sleep.Now that's out of the way, a few words about Guido Crepax and his work. It's great to see this publication, as Crepax is probably one of the most undertranslated comic book authors ever. Very few of his works have made it into English and most of those are out of print. So the fact that Fantagraphics are bestowing upon us the complete Crepax, painstakingly translated into English and split into ten massive volumes of which this is the first, is absolutely wonderful, a real treat for all lovers of good art.Amongst other things, this first volume introduces us to the iconic 'Valentina'. Valentina was Crepax's most famous and enduring creation - a beautiful Milanese photojournalist who is the essence of 60s European erotica. Based upon silent movie actress Louise Brooks and Crepax's own wife, Valentina was exquisitely drawn and beautifully conceived - sensual, stylish, sophisticated, enigmatic, demure, adventurous, liberated, and, ultimately, prone to losing her clothes very easily and becoming embroiled in all sorts of erotic dreams, adventures and fantasies. Apparantly, she presented a headache to Italian feminists of the 60s, who applauded her sexual liberation but had a problem with how passively she fit into the male sexual fantasy. Personally, I'll leave that debate to the 60s - I'm completely under Valentina's spell and in no fit state to contribute.So, anyway, what we have here is a beautiful hardback book, containing six Valentina stories followed by Crepax's versions of 'Dracula' and 'Frankenstein'. There is also an introductory essay, and a few fascinating interviews/essays toward the end, including an interview with Crepax's adult children, extensive story notes, and cultural and historical references. All of the comic art is presented as it was when first issued i.e. gorgeous black and white art, but there is also colour, mostly in the essay photos and art before and after the main feature. The pages are very high quality, with a semi-gloss sheen, the book is properly bound, and...well, basically, the whole package is exquisite. Yes, it's pricey, but when you see what you're getting, I'm sure you won't doubt that the price is actually very reasonable.This is not only a wonderful piece of genre-defining European erotica but an important piece of European cultural history. I recommend it very highly indeed. And long live Fantagraphics, who continue to amaze.

WOW! Crepax' VALANTINA in English at last. This book is truly fabulous, and what a wonderful achievement it will be if this indeed does become the 'Complete' Guido Crepax! - Can our bookshelves take the weight?Comics have moved on at a pace since the 1970s but some of us have remained loyal to this "Raphael of Comics" whose style harks back to his own ground-breaking period in which during the late sixties in France Jean Claude Forest unleashed Barbarella (1964) into pop culture and in Italy Guido Crepax set about completely restructuring the comic strip per se with the help of his very own 'damsel in distress'. I have conducted my own love affair with Valentina Rosselli since I found her books for sale outside the bookshops on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris, in the early 1970s. This series of encyclopedic tomes will be a joy. A true posthumous acclamation for Crepax, a great comic-strip artist once described by Graziano Frediani as a "hunter of butterflies" and whom Wilinsky maintained, drew the best ass of any comic strip artist!

Arrived on time in a well-padded parcel. However, the book looked pretty rough for a 'new' item which is very unfortunate for a pricey coffee table book like this. Light scratches on the spine + front and nearly all corners are dented.